MESA, Ariz. — After months of hearing his name in the trade rumor mill, the news Matt Olson had been preparing for finally arrived Monday morning. And it was as he hoped: he had been traded to his childhood team.
Less than 48 hours after arriving in Arizona for the lockout-delayed start of spring training, the All-Star first baseman was traded to the Atlanta Braves for four prospects in the A’s second blockbuster deal of camp.
The A’s traded All-Star pitcher Chris Bassitt to the Mets on Saturday, and third baseman Matt Chapman and starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, among others, could be the next to go as the A’s transition into their latest rebuild.
“I can’t say enough about the A’s organization and what they’ve done for me,” Olson said to reporters in Mesa just minutes after the trade. “It’s bittersweet leaving, but obviously, I know Atlanta is an amazing place — World Series champs, my hometown. If there was one place to go and leave here, that was the one place to do it, so I’m excited about it.”
In exchange for the 27-year-old Olson, the A’s will receive outfielder Cristian Pache, catcher Shea Langeliers and pitchers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes. Pache, who debuted with the Braves in 2020, and Langerliers could be in the mix with the A’s this season.
Olson, a 2021 All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner will likely take the place of Freddie Freeman with the Braves. The five-time All-Star and 2020 National League MVP has been in Atlanta since 2010 but will likely head elsewhere before the season begins.
Olson, who grew up in Lilburn, Georgia, about 40 east of Atlanta, said he’s “fully aware” about the comparisons he will get to Freeman, but is eager to take on that challenge.
“Freddie’s a hell of a player, I’m sure he’s going to be on to a great spot here whenever that happens. I’m just going to go out there and do what Matt Olson does,” Olson said. “It’s a tough guy to come in and fill the shoes. Obviously, the guy’s been doing it for so long – shoot, probably 10 years now, career .300 hitter. A hell of a player.
“But I want to do what I can to step in, make it a smooth transition to not having a guy like that around and see what I can add to the team.”
Olson took swings in the batting cages early Monday morning before a 9:30 a.m. team meeting and was set to join the first day of workouts for 40-man roster players with the A’s. But general manager David Forst told him to hang back in the clubhouse and not join the fielding drills, signaling a deal was close.
Forst told reporters that “a lot” of teams reached out to talk about Olson after he made it clear at the November GM meetings that the A’s would listen to offers. The lockout put all talks on pause for more than three months, but the interest was still high after the lockout lifted Thursday.
“I don’t think it was any secret that the Braves have longstanding interest in Matt,” Forst said, adding that the teams were talking potential deals in November. “We obviously knew that there were free agents out there affecting their interest, so whatever they had to take care of on their own, this came together pretty quickly in the last 36 hours or so.”
Matt Olson just talked to media here after being traded to Atlanta. He called the move “bittersweet” — he loved his time in Oakland but is very excited to head to his childhood team.
Will have more on @mercnews/@EastBayTimes shortly. pic.twitter.com/7ZQt2hASyP
— Alex Simon (@AlexSimonSports) March 14, 2022
Now, Olson will pack his stuff and head to Florida to join the Braves’ spring camp. But he will get a chance to say goodbye to all of his longtime teammates and friends — similar to how a trade would happen around the July trade deadline. Olson was a first-round draft pick in 2012 out of Parkland High and made his A’s debut four years later. He was fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 and has been an A’s mainstay ever since, winning two Gold Glove awards, making the 2021 All-Star team and finishing eighth in the AL MVP race last season.
“Probably makes it harder, when all these guys get back in the clubhouse —it’s been 10 years. I have guys out here who were groomsmen in my wedding this offseason,” Olson said, with his eyes watering just a bit. “Some lifelong friends here. It’s a business, and you know they can come one day, but it is nice to be able to shake their hand and give them a hug.
“This isn’t bye, I’ll see them down the road. But it’s bittersweet to be here in-person with them.”
“Down the road” will include two different series against his former team in 2022, with the A’s visiting Atlanta for a two-game series June 7-8 and the Braves coming to Oakland for two games on Sept. 6-7. As the Braves load up for a chance to repeat, Olson is “very excited” to be joining.
“Winning is always number one for me, so can’t get much better than going to a team that just won it all,” Olson said.
Olson will also be in the same division as his former longtime teammate in Bassitt — and potentially others soon, too. Olson said he’s looking forward to facing Bassitt often this year.
“It’s gonna be something when I face him because Bass and I will run our mouths to each other a little bit,” Olson said. “Some words have already been said in previous years of, ‘When I face you …’ so we’ll see what actually happens. But it’ll be cool.”
Forst heaped praise on Olson as a person when asked about what the first baseman meant to the A’s organization, but also used the question as a way to explain the necessity to get the team a new ballpark.
“It would be hard to overstate his impact on the organization or the team. He’s an all-star player, an all-star person,” Forst said. “Look, this is the reality of our situation and it’s why it is imperative that we get a new ballpark. Matt Olson is a great player and he will be missed by our fans, by everyone in that clubhouse, by those of us who had to deliver the news today.”
Forst said the A’s are “really pleased” to acquire the four prospects from the Braves.
“That has our focus right now, and between the pro scouts and front office, [we] put a lot of work into analyzing players and trying to get the right combination,” Forst said. “All four of these guys are players we’ve talked about in the past, whether it’s in the draft or other trade conversations. All four guys, we’re excited about.”
Pache, 23, debuted in the majors in 2020 and has long been considered one of the top prospects in the Braves’ farm system, but the speedy outfielder has just eight hits in 67 career at-bats. And, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reporting Monday that teams are expressing interest in Ramon Laureano, he could be an option to start in center field.
When asked about that possibility, Forst demurred but added, “We obviously have a lot of things that are in flux between now and Opening Day, so that’s hard to say. But what we know is that [he’s] probably one of the best defensive outfielders anyone has seen in the minor leagues in a long time. And guys who get to the big leagues at 21 years old, it’s a really good sign for what’s ahead of them. We’re really excited about his future.”
My heart is broken. I just found out that I was traded to the A’s. I know that’s the way this business works, but I want Braves fans to know that I will be eternally grateful to him wherever he goes. Thank you for so much support, for so much love and for being so special to me.
— Cristian pache (@cristianpache25) March 14, 2022
Langeliers, 24, was the ninth overall pick in the 2019 MLB amateur draft out of Baylor and was named Atlanta’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2021 after hitting 22 home runs and driving in 52 runs over 92 games with Double-A Mississippi.
Cusick and Estes will fortify an A’s system that added top Mets’ pitching prospect, J.T. Ginn, in the Bassitt trade that was completed on Saturday evening.
Cusick, 22, was the 24th overall pick in the 2021 MLB amateur draft out of Wake Forest and struck out 34 batters over 16 1/3 innings during his first pro season. Estes, 20, is the lowest-profile prospect among the quartet acquired by Oakland in Monday’s trade, but the former 16th round draft pick impressed with Low-A Augusta last year as he posted a 2.91 ERA in 20 starts last season.
The trades may not be done, either. Like Olson, Chapman is arbitration-eligible in 2022 and 2023 and should fetch a huge haul of prospects that will give Oakland the chance to reduce its payroll while adding promising young talent — with Forst saying conversations are ongoing and “everything is fluid.”
“We do have a lot of balls in the air and a lot of conversations,” Forst said. “You never know how teams are going to feel after you go dark for three-plus months, but we’ve picked up some conversations right where we left off, including this one.
When asked about how he will work to help manager Mark Kotsay fill the hole at first base, Forst gave a rather foreboding answer.
“I think Mark and I are going to have to discuss that. I don’t think we have those answers yet,” Forst said. “I think there’s a lot of things we won’t have answers for until Opening Day.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com